IC Design and Verification Tools Developed by MICS

XMODEL: A Fast Behavioral Simulator for Analog/Mixed-Signal Systems

XMODEL is an extension to SystemVerilog simulators including Synopsys VCS, MentorGraphics ModelSim and Cadence NC-Verilog that enables accurate functional modeling and fast simulation of analog/mixed-signal systems. For high-speed links, XMODEL also provides powerful statistical simulation capability that can estimate extremely low bit-error rate (BER) of 10^-12 within a few minutes. XMODEL is now a commercial tool with a richer set of features and professional technical support. For more information, please visit http://www.scianalog.com. XMODEL

Global Convergence Analysis Toolkit (GCAT)

Many modern mixed-signal systems such as phase/delay-locked loops and DC-DC converters exhibit global convergence failures, also known as start-up failures. In other words, the system may have intermittent start-up failures due to its poorly initialized states. For instance, an oscillator may not start, a PLL may not converge to lock, and a DC-DC converter may fail to provide a correct voltage. To verify the existence of global convergence failures, GCAT offers two complementary approaches: the cluster split detection and indeterminate state (‘X’) elimination algorithms. For details, please visit this page.

- Ref: S. Youn, J. Kim, M. A. Horowitz, "Global Convergence Analysis of Mixed-Signal Systems", ACM/IEEE Design Automation Conf. (DAC), June 2011.

- Ref: S. Youn and J. Kim, "Preventing Global Convergence Failure in Mixed-Signal Systems via Indeterminate State (‘X’) Elimination," IEEE Trans. Circuits and Systems I, 2013. (doi)

Global Convergence Analysis Toolkit

Global Convergence Checker for Oscillators (GCHECK)

GCHECK is an automated verification tool that validate whether a ring oscillator always converges to the desired mode of operation regardless of the initial conditions and variability conditions. This is the first tool ever reported to address the global convergence failures in presence of variability. For more information, visit this page.

- Ref: T. Kim, S. Youn, H. Park, and J. Kim, "Verifying Start-up Failures in Coupled Ring Oscillators in Presence of Variability Using Predictive Global Optimization," ICCAD 2013.

Global Convergence Checker for Oscillators

Verilog-A Modules for Variable Domain Transformation

Variable Domain Transformation (VDT) is a useful concept to convert a seemingly nonlinear system in one variable domain into a linear system in another one. For instance, a phase-locked loop (PLL) that takes a large-signal clock input and produces a large-signal clock output may be viewed as a strongly-nonlinear system in voltage domain, but most PLL designers want to view it as a linear system in phase domain. With VDT modules, one can perform a periodic AC analysis (PAC) in variable domains other than voltage or current, such as phase, frequency, delay, and duty-cycle in order to simulate the AC transfer function of a phase-locked loop, delay-locked loop, duty-cycle adjuster.

Variable Domain Transformation

Tags: software